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Frequently Asked Questions

Who can join CALJ?
CALJ members are primarily scholarly journals in Canada but our membership is inclusive and we invite organizations within Canada and abroad to become part of the CALJ community. For more information on the categories of membership, visit our member info page, here.

Who are current members?
CALJ members are primarily Canadian scholarly journals. CALJ represents an increasing number of scholarly journals from various disciplines in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. Industry organizations, industry professionals and students are also invited as members of CALJ.

What qualifies as a scholarly journal?
Scholarly journals publish original, scholarly work that has been peer-reviewed by an editorial board of scholars.

What is the membership process?
The first step to becoming a member of CALJ is to complete the membership form, here. Once your membership dues and completed membership form are received in the CALJ office and your membership application is reviewed, you will receive a welcome notice from CALJ and your email will be added to the member listserve. If your category of membership includes a page on the CALJ website, the page will be generated using the information you provide on your membership form.

What does CALJ do with info gathered from members?
Some of the information gathered from members on the membership form is used to generate the content of the member web pages. The online application process for journals requires additional data to be collected, which is clearly demarcated and does not appear on the website. This information remains confidential and is aggregated to generate an annual report, which is provided to members.

What events does CALJ hold?
CALJ hosts an annual conference as part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, held at a different Canadian university every year. The conference includes two days of sessions and CALJ and its members participate in the Congress book fair. CALJ also holds other meetings and events from one year to the next as part of project activities.

How does CALJ set priorities and decide on activities?
CALJ is a not-for-profit and member-driven organization. The membership is called on to voice their interests and to establish priorities for CALJ activities. The mandate of CALJ, as quoted from the bylaws, is to “represent, develop and support the academic community of Canadian learned journals in disseminating original research and scholarly information, and to promote intellectual culture in Canada and internationally.”

How can CALJ help established journals?
By bringing together a group of established journals and seasoned journal professionals, CALJ is the source of a strong, collective initiative, whether in terms of collective experience to identify priority issues on the horizon, the collective strength to secure funds for CALJ activities that meet the needs articulated by the established journals, or advocating for change and support on behalf of established journals in the industry. CALJ is also able to offer professional development to editors and managing editors as necessary with changes in scholarly journal publishing.

How can CALJ help new journals and journal professionals?
CALJ can help new journals by providing professional development, resources and access to the larger community of scholarly journal publishing. Whether you are new to journal publishing or launching a new journal, CALJ is the source of important knowledge, history and context for succeeding.

How can CALJ help journal managers?
With continued changes in journal publishing, journal managers confront a constant learning curve in their work. Larger journals with full-time journal management personnel can turn to CALJ for professional development adapted to their needs. Smaller journals with part-time management personnel can turn to CALJ for an understanding of the fundamentals of journal management. CALJ is also able to bring journal managers and journal editors together, to facilitate mutual understanding in the interest of smooth journal operations.

How can CALJ help journal editors?
Most journal editors arrive in their editorial role after having committed a number of years to scholarly work in their own academic discipline. Journal editors, although accomplished members of the scholarly community and experienced reviewers of scholarly work, are not often as familiar with journal publishing as they need to be. CALJ is able to provide editors with the informed understanding that they need to have a successful tenure in their post as editor. CALJ is also able to bring journal editors and journal managers together, to facilitate mutual understanding in the interest of smooth journal operations.

Where can I find information about journal publishing?
The CALJ list of resources includes documents produced by CALJ, as well as a list of books, journal articles and other information on journal publishing. Click here to visit our resources page.